


Fine Again

by KaibaSlaveGirl34



Series: Yu-Gi-Oh Stories/Crossovers [6]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Prostitution, Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/M, Money, Non-Sexual Slavery, Prostitution, Rags to Riches, Repressed Memories, Sex Work, Song: Draggin’ the Line, Song: Fine Again, TV Tropes, Vampire Heroes, Vampire Laws, Wealth, Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-09-28
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2017-11-15 05:31:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/523695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaibaSlaveGirl34/pseuds/KaibaSlaveGirl34
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Buffy is a prostitute. Kaiba, Joey and Yami Yugi are vampires who only feed on criminals. One fateful night, Buffy is ambushed by a group of men, and is then rescued by Kaiba, Joey and Yami. Everything changes soon after that...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Fateful Beginning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Harry2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harry2/gifts), [Thrawn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thrawn/gifts).



> Hey there, my fellow writers and readers. :) Here’s a new Buffy/Yu-Gi-Oh crossover story I cooked up one day. I was reading this really good Buffy/Angel fanfic I found on Fanfiction.Net. It’s called [Wanna See A Trick?](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2773580/1/Wanna-See-A-Trick) (by the author [drusillaschilde](http://www.fanfiction.net/u/960180/drusillaschilde)), and it’s set in the city of Los Angeles, California. To me, that’s a nice change of setting, especially from all those fanfics that are usually set in the fictional town of Sunnydale (even though the real name is ‛Sunnyvale’), what with Los Angeles being a real city in California. Plus, it’s also an Alternate Universe story without the supernatural elements and everyone’s human. In ‛Wanna See A Trick?’, Buffy, renamed Buffy Giles, is a prostitute, while Angel (called Liam Angelus in the story, since ‛Liam’ is Angel’s real name on the show) is a street performer. I thought it was very well-done, and very well-written as well. 
> 
> It was then, having gotten so inspired by that story, that I cooked up my own story with almost the same idea, but different. In this one, Buffy is a prostitute, while Joey Wheeler, Seto Kaiba and Yami Yugi are vampires, but the good ones, as they prefer feeding on the criminal types — such as muggers, rapists, child molesters, serial killers and perpetrators of crimes such as domestic violence, to name a few. After all, who’s going to mourn for a pedophile or a member of a violent street gang when they meet with sudden death? Nobody, of course..
> 
> Also, I’ve been reading this wonderful book I found one day when I was in high school. It’s called “Sisters/Hermanas”, and it’s by Gary Paulsen. Set in Texas, it’s about two young ladies who are fourteen years old; their two separate lives interconnect in an unusual way. I was also quite inspired by that book as well, too. 
> 
> By the way, this story is dedicated to my friend Harry2 (who is also known as Harry on the BtVS crossover site Twisting the Hellmouth), as he likes Buffy/Yu-Gi-Oh crossover fics as much as I do myself. 
> 
> Disclaimer: Genius Joss Whedon owns Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kazuki Takahashi (also a genius) owns Yu-Gi-Oh. The lyrics to I Can Wait Forever by Simple Plan at the beginning of this story belong to their respective owners. I own the fanfics that I cook up from time to time.

Fine Again

_You look so beautiful today_  
_When you’re sitting there it’s hard for me to look away_  
_So I try to find the words that I could say_  
_I know distance doesn’t matter, but you feel so far away_  
_And I can’t lie_  
_Every time I leave my heart turns gray_  
_And I wanna come back home to see your face tonight_  
_‛Cause I just can’t take it_

_Another day without you with me_  
_Is like a blade that cuts right through me_  
_But I can wait_  
_I can wait forever_  
_When you call my heart stops beating_  
_When you’re gone it won’t stop bleeding_  
_But I can wait_  
_I can wait forever_

_You look so beautiful today_  
_It’s like every time I turn around I see your face_  
_The thing I miss the most is waking up next to you_  
_When I look into your eyes_  
_Man, I wish that I could stay and I can’t lie_  
_Every time I leave my heart turns gray_  
_And I wanna come back home to see your face tonight_  
_And I_  
_‛Cause I just can’t take it_

_Another day without you with me_  
_Is like a blade that cuts right through me_  
_But I can wait_  
_I can wait forever_  
_When you call my heart stops beating_  
_When you’re gone it won’t stop bleeding_  
_But I can wait_  
_I can wait forever_

_I know it feels like forever_  
_I guess that’s just the price I gotta pay_  
_But when I come back home to feel your touch_  
_Makes it better_  
_Until that day_  
_There’s nothing else that I can do_  
_And I just can’t take it_  
_I just can’t take it_

_Another day without you with me_  
_Is like a blade that cuts right through me_  
_But I can wait_  
_I can wait forever (I can wait forever)_  
_When you call my heart stops beating_  
_When you’re gone it won’t stop bleeding_  
_But I can wait_  
_I can wait forever_  
_I can wait forever_  
_I can wait forever..._  
~Simple Plan, **I Can Wait Forever**

* * *

The men called her many things. Things that she didn’t understand or preferred not to understand. And usually, all the things they said depended on the timing of the looks they gave her. It always depended on the looks and the timing. Whatever the look was, it usually said many feelings. But never to someone else, though. Just to her. She didn’t know how she knew, though; she just knew.

Sometimes they would even cry when they were with her. That would cause her to turn her head and look at them, puzzled, as a result. Grown men crying — that, to her, was a wonderment of sorts. Quite something there. _A puzzle to be intrigued by,_ she mentally remarked to herself. Secretly, she had always wanted to solve that kind of puzzle.

Usually, the men would call her names. False names. Pet names, just to make her into someone else.

Annie. Patricia. Marie. Teresa. Betty. Janice.

Names of the other girls and older women that meant nothing to her and, she suspected, would mean little more to the men that came and paid her for her services almost each and every night as she stood on the street corners she had picked out for herself.

She called herself ‛Buffy’. Just that: Buffy.

Her hair was the color of daffodils. The most amazing feature that belonged to her was her eyes. Whenever she locked eyes with someone, they would usually take note of how her eyes reminded them of either one of two things: the color of emeralds or the shamrocks in Ireland.

She was eighteen years of age.

* * *

They were born Vampires, raised to believe that there was crime in the world, and that criminals were, first and foremost, the right kind of victims for a vampire to drain the blood from. After all, who was going to mourn for a pedophile, a mugger or even a member of a violent gang when they met with sudden death? Nobody, of course.

Their names were Joey Wheeler, Yami Moto and Seto Kaiba. Yami was Yugi Moto’s older brother, and Seto Mokuba’s older brother. Kaiba was eighteen years old, and Yami looked to be the same age; however, he was actually 5,000 years of age. Joey was also eighteen years old, too.

One thing that Joey, Yami and Kaiba had in common was that they were quite striking in their looks — or, in other words, simply catnip to anybody who would look up and lock eyes with them. It was said they could lure even a female serial killer (such as Aileen Wuornos) into their clutches. Well, that was very true, of course.

And there were so many different kinds of criminals for Joey, Kaiba and Yami to feed on as well: muggers, rapists (especially child rapists, which was Kaiba’s forte because of his soft spot for children, especially orphans), child molesters and perpetrators of other crimes such as domestic violence, human trafficking and extortion, among others.

At the moment, Yami had his fangs buried in the throat of a pedophile, who had, unfortunately for him, made the mistake of seeing Yami as a new victim of some kind. Now the pedophile was paying the price. Meanwhile, Joey had gotten hold of a man who had tried to commit murder and was also draining the man’s life force slowly.

Kaiba, for his part, had caught a serial killer who had been about to take away the life of an innocent man. It was only when he looked up and locked eyes with Kaiba before seeing the smirk on Kaiba’s face and then the deadly fangs in Kaiba’s mouth that the serial killer knew he had been caught in the act.

Forgetting all about his victim, the serial killer (who remained nameless) then turned and began to run, but Kaiba, using his vampire speed, soon caught up with him.

“And just where do you think **you’re** going, young man?” Kaiba queried. The tone in his voice was all calm and collected, like he had all the time in the world, maybe.

Not wanting to answer, the serial killer then turned and tried to run again, only to find himself suddenly up against the wall of the alley, with his arms pinned to his sides and his legs frozen. Kaiba had pinned him there by the shoulders, the deadly smirk still on his handsome visage.

“I should’ve known you were the kind of guy that goes after and murders innocent people.” He paused before adding, “Well, I won’t have that. Not one bit at all, that is.

“You see, my dear friend,” Kaiba added after yet another moment’s pause as he then began to work his powers of both hypnotism and mind manipulation on his criminal victim, “this is why you and your fellow criminals should never tangle with a vampire. Especially a vampire such as myself that feeds on criminals and killers such as you.”

Whatever the killer wanted to say, witty or otherwise, had instantly vanished — along with his life a few moments later.

Another criminal had been executed, vampire style.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nice feedback is appreciated, of course. :)


	2. A Fateful Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buffy remembers how she had gotten into the world’s oldest profession (as prostitution is usually sometimes called) in the first place..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, my fellow readers and writers. Here’s the next chapter of Fine Again. Hope you like it. :)

**Previously...**

_Forgetting all about his victim, the serial killer (who remained nameless) then turned and began to run, but Kaiba, using his vampire speed, soon caught up with him._

_“And just where do you think **you’re** going, young man?” Kaiba queried. The tone in his voice was all calm and collected, like he had all the time in the world, maybe. _

_Not wanting to answer, the serial killer then turned and tried to run again, only to find himself suddenly up against the wall of the alley, with his arms pinned to his sides and his legs frozen. Kaiba had pinned him there by the shoulders, the deadly smirk still on his handsome visage._

_“I should’ve known you were the kind of guy that goes after and murders innocent people.” He paused before adding, “Well, I won’t have that. Not one bit at all, that is._

_“You see, my dear friend,” Kaiba added after yet another moment’s pause as he then began to work his powers of both hypnotism and mind manipulation on his criminal victim, “this is why you and your fellow criminals should never tangle with a vampire. Especially a vampire such as myself that feeds on criminals and killers such as you.”_

_Whatever the killer wanted to say, witty or otherwise, had instantly vanished — along with his life a few moments later._

_Another criminal had been executed, vampire style._

* * *

_Making a living the old, hard way_  
_Taking and giving by day by day_  
_I dig the snow and the rain and the bright sunshine_  
_I’m draggin’ the line (draggin’ the line)_

_My dog Sam eats purple flowers_  
_We ain’t got much, but what we’ve got’s ours_  
_We dig snow and the rain and the bright sunshine_  
_Draggin’ the line (draggin the line)_

_I feel fine_  
_I’m talking about peace of mind_  
_I’m gonna take my time_  
_I’m getting to good times_  
_Draggin’ the line (draggin the line)_  
~Beat Goes Bang, **Draggin’ the Line**

The world’s oldest profession.

Buffy shook her head as she remembered that very phrase. If she had heard those words once, she had heard them a thousand times, probably. She believed that, if they were going to talk about the secret work they did to earn money in the city, then they should’ve just called it by what it really was — prostitution.

Or, as she preferred to call it, her work.

Her work.

Almost everybody who gave her a passing glance — either short or long — as they walked by her on the street or stared at her from their expensive-looking cars would give her either disapproving glares or shake their heads in disappointment. Even the men who came to her and paid for her services disapproved of her work as well.

She knew they knew what she was because of how she looked and what she was wearing. Clothes were important to her work, of course.

At the moment, Buffy was wearing a black low cut top covered by a pink PVC jacket and a short, tight black leather skirt around her hips. Mesh stockings, also black in color, covered her legs. To top it all off, she wore shoes with 4-inch heels, which she had picked out because, in her view, she disliked being short. It was a real pain in the neck; she knew that for sure. To top it all off, her blond hair was teased out bigtime.

It was true that Buffy was not ugly, and was perhaps quite prettier than most of the other girls that turned tricks on the streets — especially those who were older (usually nineteen and twenty). And, of course, she had figured out early on that leather — the real leather and not the fake kind — was what really lured the men to her. After all, the only night she could remember was when a man found her wandering the streets.

Buffy sighed as her thoughts then turned to the events that had transpired before she became what she was. She had nowhere else to go, her real home — the one in Sunnyvale — wasn’t an option since her mother had been driven to the bottle after her father died a few weeks after Buffy’s sixteenth birthday, and the jobs she wanted to take — which was the kind of work that, she had heard, was definitely OK and didn’t earn her looks of the disappointed or lecherous kind, but rather the encouraging and proud kind (especially if she did her best at it) — had already been filled up by other young girls and women before she had come to Los Angeles, much to her disappointment.

And so this work — the sucking, the fisting, the rubbing and being intimate with so many men who soon became just the customers or faces without names but only as long as they wore protection, which they accepted knowing what she meant when they noticed how serious she looked when mentioning sexually transmitted diseases — was all she could find so she could not only earn her keep, but also a good meal and a warm bed as well.

The man that found her had a nice-looking face with black hair that looked very natural and nice blue eyes, and was wearing business clothes consisting of a black suit and matching slacks. He introduced himself as Jackie to her, and said he was the owner of a call girl ring.

“My name’s Elizabeth Anne Summers, but you can call me Buffy,” she said.

Then, after hearing her age, he had smiled and complimented her on how beautiful her name was to him. She had smiled and thanked him in return. Finally, he explained that he could use her help.

“What is it, Jackie?” Buffy had queried. “Maybe I can help you out. That is, if you want me to.”

“Oh, that’s so thoughtful, Buffy; thank you. You see,” he said, now looking very serious as he spoke, and at the same time wondering how to tell her what was currently on his mind, while Buffy listened intently, “I have a problem. One of my girls, Cheryl, left on Friday of last week; she wanted to get a new job somewhere else. Of course, I wished her all the best of luck and let her go.”

He looked sad, and Buffy reached out and patted his shoulder. He looked up and smiled tearfully at the compassion he saw in those emerald eyes.

“Thanks. Well, anyway, her absence means I now have an empty spot for someone new. So I went out walking today, and that was when I saw you. So I said to myself, ‛Ah, I bet that **she** could be the person to fill the empty spot that Cheryl left behind’.”

Buffy thought for a few seconds before querying, “May I have time to consider your generous offer?”

Jackie smiled. “Oh, absolutely. Take as long as you need. There’s no need to rush into a decision such as this one, of course. After all, I have heard that it is best to take your time with decisions like these.”

“Thanks, Jackie,” Buffy replied, grinning herself this time.

“You’re welcome,” he replied.

Then, as though a thought had struck him, Jackie said, “Oh, just so you know, the money you earn goes to you. After all, it just wouldn’t be fair for me to take all the earnings you got, and I’ve seen how the pimps treat the other call girls as well, and very badly at that. Kind of mean, don’t you think?”

Buffy remembered nodding in agreement with that, while at the same time thanking him for telling her to keep any money she would earn.

However, now that she looked back on it, deep down Buffy wished she hadn’t taken Jackie up on his offer of taking Cheryl’s position in the first place. It was at that moment that she wished she could turn back time — namely, back to when she and Jackie had met. Then, she could’ve changed some things simply by saying a few different words or suddenly getting an idea of her own. Or, better yet, she could’ve suggested to Jackie that he take all the money he was earning from his call girl ring and start a new business — and hopefully a respectable and **legal** one at that.

Somehow, Buffy sensed that, if given the choice between a profession of being a prostitute and being an exotic dancer, she would definitely have chosen the job of dancing around a pole for money over selling her body if she had gotten the chance; she knew that. At least she knew the difference between prostitution and exotic dancing. Prostitutes would usually be intimate with men for money, while exotic dancers, on the other hand, would dance around a pole in a strip joint before stripping off their clothing or giving the regulars lap dances.

Of course, it wasn’t always like that in the strip clubs, though. Buffy knew this; after all, she had heard stories where the dancers would talk to the regulars and ask them about their lives. Of course, that was usually if the dancers didn’t feel like giving a lap dance, or if the regulars wanted someone to talk to, which was about their problems in the regulars’ personal lives. Usually it was a combination of both.

Then another thought came to her. Not all prostitutes were girls or women, either. If the prostitutes were boys or men, it was a different story altogether. Their customers were usually female, and the male prostitutes were referred to as ‛gigolos’ or ‛rent boys’.

 _Now it looks like the guys are also getting into the act of selling their bodies for money on the streets. It looks like prostitution isn’t just for girls anymore,_ Buffy thought.

Apparently that was true. It was not just women selling their bodies on the streets. Now it seemed there were also men working the street corners.

_It used to be that, a long time ago — before my dad or my mom were born, that is — the only kind of people who would and/or were able to do this kind of work were women who were single, were stuck in a bad situation, had nowhere else to go, or had a son or daughter to support. Now, times have changed since then._

As soon as those thoughts came to Buffy, she realized that they were true.

She then looked up at the sky from where she was standing and noticed that while she had been getting lost in her thoughts — and discovering new things to ponder while she was at it — the sun had set. Now, it was getting dark all of a sudden. Upon noticing this, Buffy yelled at herself mentally for losing track of time and not watching the position of the sun as it made its way across the sky.

She then looked over to her right, and her eyes widened in surprise upon seeing a group of four men walking along the sidewalk. What was worse was that they were coming straight towards her.

 _Uh-oh,_ Buffy thought, worried. _What’s going to happen to me now?_

Unfortunately for her, the look in the eyes of the men gave away their intentions upon their suddenly seeing her. Even more unfortunate was that those intentions were anything but good, moral and ethical...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh-oh. What will happen to Buffy? And how will Yami, Joey and Kaiba sense this and save her? 
> 
> Wait until the next chapter to find out. 
> 
> And as usual, nice feedback is very much appreciated, of course.. :)


	3. Rescued... by Vampires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buffy is rescued from four gang members by Yami, Joey and Kaiba...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. :) Here’s a new chapter of Fine Again. 
> 
> Just so you know, the part at the beginning of this chapter is from the story [Loveor something very much like it](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5778098/1/Loveor-something-very-much-like-it), which belongs to [frosty600](http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1432255/frosty600), a friend of mine on ff dot net, who had assured me that it was OK for me to use my favorite part in chapter 1 of Loveor something very much like it, which is where Buffy is attacked by a group of men before being rescued. Of course, when I asked if I could correct any spelling or grammar mistakes, she also said that was fine, too.

**Previously...**

_She then looked over to her right, and her eyes widened in surprise upon seeing a group of four men walking along the sidewalk. What was worse was that they were coming straight towards her._

_**Uh-oh,** Buffy thought, worried. **What’s going to happen to me now?**_

_Unfortunately for her, the look in the eyes of the men gave away their intentions upon their suddenly seeing her. Even more unfortunate was that those intentions were anything but good, moral and ethical..._

* * *

_I could lose my heart tonight_  
_If you don’t turn and walk away_  
_‛Cause the way I feel I might_  
_Lose control and let you stay_

_’Cause I could take you in my arms_  
_And never let go_

_I could fall in love with you_  
_I could fall in love with you_  
~Selena, **I Could Fall in Love**

Buffy narrowed her eyes as she took in what the four guys were wearing. Their clothes consisted of beat up leather jackets and pants. They also had piercings and tattoos on them.

Buffy pressed herself up against the wall, her hazel eyes now wide with fear, as they came towards her, their imposing bodies looking far bigger than they really were. Nausea twisted in her blood. Whatever the idea was that they had in mind, Buffy knew it wasn’t a good one — not one single bit. Her woman’s intuition was telling her that, and she believed it.

“Look what we have here, boys. A prostitute,” one of the four men taunted.

“Look at those wide, scared eyes, and those trembling lips. I bet she has all these male clients that pay her well for her... **services**. Well, if she does, then I’m sure she’s definitely not a virgin,” the second remarked and licked his lips while simultaneously eyeing Buffy along with his two other comrades. They coveted Buffy just as a man would thirst for water or a cold glass of soda that was out of his reach.

One of Buffy’s hands tightened its grip on the handles of the bag (which held all the money she had earned in her two years working the streets) in her hand. She tried pressing herself further into the wall — praying that she was having a nightmare and that she would soon wake up some place that was safe and away from guys like them. Unfortunately, she soon realized that the situation she was currently in wasn’t a nightmare at all. Instead it was, as much as it pained her to admit, very real.

“Ain’t you a pretty little thing,” the first guy said while grabbing her chin with his hand. He tilted her head one way and then another.

Buffy frowned and jerked her head away.

“Don’t touch me!” she snapped at them in reply. However, her statement, instead of surprising or shocking them, simply caused a chuckle to run through the four men. Buffy frowned, wondering why they were laughing; she was being serious and she knew it. Secretly, she wondered what it was they found so amusing.

“Looks like we’ve got a fighter on our hands, boys.”

“Oh, good. You know, from my perspective, that makes it more enjoyable.”

“From my experience, it’s the virgin cunts that are usually always the best. They’re so tight.”

“Oh, and the screams. Don’t forget those. I think they’re delightful.”

Another chuckle went through the group, and Buffy whimpered before trying to bolt from the scene. But that wasn’t to be. Strong thick arms caught her easily, pushing her back, and into one of the other men. Immediately, his arms wound around her; his hands were feeling her breasts through her jacket roughly. Then he growled in annoyance, ripping the jacket from her shoulders and off her body. Her handbag, which she had clutched to herself as though it was a lifeline, fell to the ground, where it landed with a soft thump. His large rough hands were back on her breasts, and he was rubbing something hard into her rump, although she couldn’t tell what it was.

“No!” Buffy screamed as she struggled against her captor’s hold. “ **Stop** it!”

She could feel the hands belonging to the other three men on her now. There were large hands running over her bare legs. Then a hand cupped between her legs before pushing aside her panties in order to feel her bare flesh. A finger was shoved roughly inside her, and another scream left her lips.

One of them then remarked, locking eyes with the leader, “Well, you were right. She’s definitely what you said she was. Is she a prostitute or what?”

The leader nodded.

Buffy cried and screamed. The finger that had been thrust into her dry passage really hurt unlike anything she had experienced previously. And fear rushed through her right then. It was getting worse and making her struggle for survival a lot harder, which only made them grip her tighter. She felt a tongue run along the skin of her leg, and she screamed again, hoping that someone would hear her and coming running to her rescue. However, her scream was cut off by a meaty tongue being forced into her mouth. The feeling of such a thing did not feel too good at all. In fact, it was making her feel sick.

Their hands then slipped under her top, fondling her flesh both roughly and painfully. Their hands felt disgusting on her, but she couldn’t seem to break away, nor could she tell who was holding her anymore as she was thrust from one male’s arms to another. Their excited calls were making her fear rise up like a cobra ready to strike with its fangs bared out of self-preservation.

Buffy felt another hand cup her roughly, and she heard a dark voice in her ear. “I’m gonna enjoy taking the virgin out of you,” it said.

Then, all of a sudden, Buffy heard a succession of hisses that wasn’t her own; in fact, they weren’t actually human hisses at all, or the kind of hissing that would come from a cat when it was on the warpath. No, this hiss sounded more.. dark and inhumane. Like it was something preternatural, maybe.

It was then that the hand that had been touching her so intimately left. Apparently, the four men must’ve heard the hissing as well, for Buffy noticed that they now looked scared, the looks of bravado and lust having left them. She then heard the same voice from before mutter, “Darn it.”

Buffy was then dropped onto her rump. She crawled over to the wall and huddled in on herself as she cried. She wasn’t able to do much else in this moment, even though she knew she should take this god given opportunity to run away.

The leader of the four men, who realized he had been hit on the back of the head by something hard, then came to a realization and said, “Looks like we’ve got a good Samaritan on our hands now, boys. Let’s show him what we do to people who spoil our fun.”

However, when his friends didn’t answer, he looked around, puzzled.

“Boys? Boys, didn’t you hear what I said?”

“A ‛Good Samaritan’? ‛Him’? Is that what you think? Well, I don’t think so, kid. There isn’t one of us here tonight. As a matter of fact, there’s three of us, if you will,” a new voice said in reply — and a baritone one at that.

The gang’s leader turned to his left and then looked in front of him, but then immediately started back, wishing he hadn’t seen what he was now laying his eyes on.

For there, lying on the ground, and in a pool of blood surrounding them, were his three comrades, looking as though they had been knocked over by something. But that wasn’t what made him suck in his breath in shock.

Instead, it was seeing the three guys — if that was what they were — leaning down next to the three gang members and piercing their throats with what definitely seemed to be fangs.

Luckily, as there was a full moon out, the gang leader was able to see the faces of his comrades’ attackers. One had a triumvirate of red, yellow and black hair in lightning bolt shapes and wore a non-sleeved black shirt covered by a blue jacket, and azure pants. On his feet were boots that matched his jacket and pants. It was only when the guy pulled his fangs (now bloodstained) out of the comrade’s throat, looked up at the gang leader and smirked that the gang leader saw his eyes. They were crimson in color.

The second guy had dirty blond hair in a sporadic hairstyle and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a blue denim jacket with a white T-shirt underneath, and blue jeans. On his feet were blue and white striped Vans. As soon as he was finished with what he was doing, he pulled his fangs out of the gang member’s throat, looked up at the now shocked leader, and then smiled. However, his smile was anything but innocent.

“Hi,” he said, his voice laced with a Brooklyn accent. The gang leader shuddered at the sight of the fangs in his mouth.

It was only when the third guy finished feeding from the final gang member and then got to his feet, smirking, that the leader saw what he looked like, while also recognizing who he was.

He had brown hair, and his azure eyes reminded the leader of a pair of sapphires. His face, according to the women whose conversations the gang leader had overheard more than once, was said to be very handsome. As for his clothes, he was wearing black slacks with the matching turtleneck, black boots with a slightly raised heel in the back and the all-too-familiar purple trenchcoat.

However, the gang leader only realized what they were when they got to their feet and looked him straight in the eye with the smiles that were anything but sweet and the fangs in their mouths that were like a wolf’s. He then also realized something horrifying — something that he usually ignored and preferred not to think about in the daytime, but was scared to face when night fell. Only one word could describe the three guys he was seeing right now.

Vampires. That was what those three guys were.

Another thought soon presented itself and occurred to him just then. The gossip, the rumors, the stories (especially the ones about the criminals that had been found dead with two puncture wounds in their throats and drained of their blood) — what if they were **true**?

He wasn’t sure, though. And at the moment, he pressed himself back into the wall where Buffy had previously been, hoping that either the wall or the ground would open up and swallow him whole, or lead him to some place safe, maybe.

Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. Instead, he realized that he was now in Buffy’s shoes — trapped up against a wall, and with three vampires cornering him. Now, for the first time, he wished that he and his comrades had simply respected Buffy’s wishes when she had told them to leave her alone and not touch her.

“Well, look what we have here, guys. A gang leader,” said the one with the baritone voice.

“I can see that, Yami,” said the guy with the Brooklyn accent. “And it’s lucky we found him as well.”

“I agree with you both, Joey,” said the brown-haired one, who then grinned, showing his teeth, before reaching over and gently pulling Buffy to him.

For her part, Buffy looked up at Kaiba before turning to Yami and Joey, and then smiled. Her mind told her that these three guys — Yami, Joey and Kaiba, which were their names, as Kaiba explained to her — definitely were not the kind of guys that would allow the gang rape of a woman, a man, or a prostitute such as herself.

“You all right, Buffy?” Kaiba queried.

Buffy nodded. “Yes, and thanks for saving me, too. But how did you know-?”

Kaiba smiled. “Well, Yami, Joey and I — we’re vampires, of course. But we’re only three of most of the vampires that only go after and drain the blood of all the criminals there are in the world.”

He then gently passed Buffy to Joey, who held her like a brother would with his little sister.

“That’s right,” said Joey as he looked at Buffy. In those emerald eyes, he saw, was a desperate need for escape from the life she had gotten herself into.

The life of a prostitute.

“You see, Buffy,” Joey continued after a moment, “us being vampires, we heard your cries and screams for help while those four gang members were assaulting you.”

Buffy’s smile of relief turned to puzzlement when she looked over at the leader of the gang and noticed that he was still standing there, but was now pressed up against the wall, like she had been before Yami, Joey and Kaiba had stepped in. “What’s going to happen to him?” she asked.

Yami looked thoughtful, and then turned to Buffy for a moment before looking back at the gang leader with a smile. “Don’t worry, Buffy,” he replied, his baritone voice sending shivers down the leader’s spine. “I will see to it that he never gets the chance to harm a woman such as yourself... ever again.”

After turning back to Buffy, he then blew her a kiss, and then turned to Kaiba and Joey. “Joey, Kaiba,” he said, a tone of command in his voice, “take Buffy to the mansion. I will deal with this scum myself.”

Upon hearing those words, the leader tried to run away just as Buffy had previously tried to do in order to leave him and his comrades behind. However, in the leader’s case, he was trying to escape from a guy who looked as though he was able to take down guys like the rival gangs. Plus, thanks to a quick spell cast by Yami, his feet were firmly planted on the ground, which, the leader realized, prevented him from escaping the vampire’s clutches. In the meantime, Kaiba and Joey immediately took off, with Buffy between them. Luckily for Buffy, they had managed to retrieve her handbag before taking off for the mansion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nice feedback is very much appreciated, of course.. :)


	4. At the Mansion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buffy gets to see the interior of the mansion where Yami, Joey and Kaiba live, and also hears the story of how they acquired the mansion in the first place...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Here’s a new chapter of Fine Again.

**Previously...**

_After turning back to Buffy, he then blew her a kiss, and then turned to Kaiba and Joey. “Joey, Kaiba,” he said, a tone of command in his voice, “take Buffy to the mansion. I will deal with this scum myself.”_

_Upon hearing those words, the leader tried to run away just as Buffy had previously tried to do in order to leave him and his comrades behind. However, in the leader’s case, he was trying to escape from a guy who looked as though he was able to take down guys like the rival gangs. Plus, thanks to a quick spell cast by Yami, his feet were firmly planted on the ground, which, the leader realized, prevented him from escaping the vampire’s clutches. In the meantime, Kaiba and Joey immediately took off, with Buffy between them. Luckily for Buffy, they had managed to retrieve her handbag before taking off for the mansion._

* * *

Buffy closed her eyes and then opened them again, wondering if she was really seeing the house that was in her line of vision right now. It turned out that she was, much to her relief. 

“Our home sweet home,” Kaiba said while smiling at Buffy.

Buffy couldn’t help but grin herself. “It’s beautiful,” she remarked. “I like it already.”

Indeed, the mansion was beautiful. It had the very same look and feel that the mansions from the olden days also had. There were towers on the corners, as well as a large front door with a back door on one side.

As soon as they came up to the doors, Buffy blinked as Joey flicked his wrist and the doors opened by themselves. “How’d you do that?” she asked.

Joey smirked. “Well, let me put it this way. It’s just one of the perks of being a vampire, of course,” he replied.

As soon as they stepped over the threshold, the doors quietly closed by themselves, but Buffy was too busy with looking around and examining all of the mansion’s interior design to even hear them anyway. The walls were painted gold, and three feet away from the doors was a staircase. The stairs, which led up to the second floor, were made of black wood and covered by a red carpet with gold trimming. She was impressed. 

“This is a fantastic place,” she remarked, grinning. 

And indeed it was. When Joey snapped his fingers, the living room, which was five feet away from the entrance to the front door, suddenly lit up when the fire in the fireplace sprang to life. Buffy blinked in astonishment. 

“Wow” was all she could think of to say for a bit. Then a confused look crossed the lovely features of her face before she spoke the words that she had been wanting to say, but didn’t know how to put them in the right order yet. 

“There’s one thing I want to know, though. Exactly how did you come across this place anyway?” she queried.

At this question, Kaiba and Joey looked at each other and exchanged smiles before turning back to her. 

“Well,” Kaiba began, “it’s like this. A few years ago — before you came to Los Angeles with your dreams of becoming a famous star — Joey, Yami and I had come across this very mansion. However, it already belonged to someone else — a very wealthy man. But this happened to be a stroke of good luck, because he also happened to be a serial killer. We knew this because of looking into his mind and viewing the information and memories about the number of kills he had made, which, altogether, added up to eleven.”

“Wait, wait,” said Buffy, a confused expression crossing her face. “Hold on a second, please. That’s another thing — how did you find out about my wanting to be rich and famous? I know I never mentioned it to you.”

Now it was Joey’s turn to provide an explanation. “Well, there’s only one word to describe that, Buffy. It’s called telepathy, or rather, ‛mind reading’. When we rescued you from those guys, Yami looked into your mind first, and saw your childhood, and then your adolescence up until a few days after you turned sixteen.” He shook his head as though to will away the memory of what Yami had told him had happened after that. “At least your father lived a good life, and was also a good father to you, as well as a good husband to your mother.”

Kaiba nodded as though in understanding. “I agree. It’s too bad, though, that your mother, Joyce, was unable to ask for help when she had to cope with your father’s death, and instead chose to turn to the one thing which causes a disease that millions of people have — namely, alcohol.” 

As Kaiba spoke, he then looked at Buffy as tears fell down her cheeks at the mention of her late father — as well as her still-living mother, too.

Finally, while wiping the tears away with a white silk handkerchief offered to her by Joey, Buffy said, “Yes, you’re right.” She paused for a bit before adding, “And I just want to say thank you for rescuing me from those guys, too. If you three hadn’t come along when you did... well, let’s just say that I don’t even want to think about it.”

The room fell silent then as Buffy wiped some more tears from her eyes. She knew that Kaiba and Joey were right about her father and mother. Kaiba had a point there when he said that Buffy’s mother was unable to ask for help when it came to trying to cope with the death of Buffy’s father, too.

It was only when she felt Joey’s arms around her that she began to feel a little better. “Thanks, Joey,” she said.

Joey smiled. “Don’t worry about it, Buffy. Besides, Kaiba, Yami and I are family and see each other as such. Also,” he added after a moment, “we see you as the sister we’ve always wanted, but never got.”

Hearing those words made Buffy’s sadness ease a little bit more. Deep down, though, she was wondering about something — what could’ve happened if they had met her when she was a kid? Could things have turned out differently for Buffy and her mother back then if these three vampire heroes had come along at the right moment? If only her father had lived to meet Yami, Joey and Kaiba, too. He would’ve taken a fancy to them, for one thing. Also, he would’ve asked them to take good care of Buffy and her mother if something happened to him. After all, that was part of who he was. She knew that for sure.

Buffy pulled herself out of her thoughts when Kaiba embraced her in a brotherly manner. 

“Don’t worry, Buffy,” he said. “Yami, Joey and I will make sure you are taken care of very well.” 

“Thank you, Kaiba,” Buffy replied, her emerald eyes glistening with fresh new tears. 

Smiling kindly, Kaiba reached up to wipe her tears away. “Please,” he said, his voice now holding a trace of gentleness, “call me Seto.” 

* * *

When they stepped into the living room, there was a black leather couch a few feet away from the hearth. Yami soon returned, and told Buffy that he had put a spell on the gang leader. The spell made the leader forget what leading a gang felt like; as a result, the leader — whose name was Marcus — had been put with the servants who worked in the cotton fields during the day.

“Oh, I had forgotten the story of the serial killer of whom this house belonged to,” said Yami while smacking his forehead with his right palm. “Well, to resume.” 

And in that instant, as soon as Buffy sat down on the couch (thanks to a whispered invitation from Joey and Kaiba that she was welcome to do so) and looked into Yami’s eyes, she was instantly lost in them. Looking her in the eyes the whole time, Yami told the rest of the story about the serial killer that had owned the house she was in right now, his baritone voice holding her attention. She did like Yami’s telling of how he used his mind manipulation powers to convince the killer to write his last will and testament bequeathing all his possessions and the money in his bank accounts to Joey, Yami and Kaiba the best.

Yami did make sure to leave out the parts where he, Joey and Kaiba tortured the killer before draining all of his blood.

“It wouldn’t do for you to wake up screaming every night about us killing you in cold blood, Buffy. After all, we would never do something like that to an innocent person such as yourself,” Kaiba explained as he and Joey held her in a brotherly fashion. Buffy quickly nodded in understanding.

“I see,” she said, “and I understand that as well.”

“Yes. So anyway, we posed as the serial killer’s sons in order to get access to his personal bank accounts soon after we gave him a proper burial in the garden outside the mansion,” Yami explained. “And that worked very well.”

Joey then turned to Buffy and said, “After we accomplished that, we headed back here. The instant we stepped over the threshold, it was as though the mansion was just fine.”

“Exactly,” Kaiba added. “You see, Buffy, it was as though the spirits of the killer’s victims had been there and left a note thanking us for what we did. And we imagined said note saying something along the lines of ‛It’s a good thing you showed up at the right moment. Thanks to you three vampire heroes, we can finally rest in peace knowing that the man who killed us is dead himself now’. We thought that to be pretty neat.”

Buffy was silent for a moment. “Wow,” she remarked. “I had no idea that you did something like that.”

Yami nodded. “Indeed.”

Joey then spoke up. “Buffy, what do you think of this place? I hope that you find it to be... quite pleasing.”

Although she was caught off-guard mentally, Buffy let a thoughtful expression cross those lovely features of hers. The thoughtful look soon transformed into a smile, and she replied, “Well, I have to say this — apparently, this place is really very beautiful. It has charm, it has opulence, and above all, it has class. To be precise, it’s the kind of place I’d want to live in.” She paused for dramatic effect, while looking at them before adding, “Especially if I happened to be very wealthy myself.”

Now it was Kaiba’s turn to look thoughtful. “So I see, Buffy. So I see,” he purred after a moment.

After they showed Buffy around some of the mansion’s interior, Yami, Joey and Kaiba showed Buffy to the room that would be hers.

Buffy was instantly impressed; the room was very beautiful with windows that had curtains covering it. The curtains were a deep purple color. The bed itself was quite something as well; it had deep blue silk sheets which were covered by a bedspread the color of red wine. Covering the bedspread was a quilt stitched with roses. Lying on the pillow was a nightgown. It was white in color, and also very modest too.

“It’s very lovely,” she remarked, turning back to them. “Thanks, you guys. When I see something like this, I think, _What more could I ask for?_ This is a great room to be in.”

Yami and Joey nodded as though saying “You’re welcome” before they left.

Buffy looked around the room for a bit, liking how it looked. Candy-striped wallpaper covered the walls, and the ceiling was white (similar to the kind Buffy remembered seeing in hospitals when she was a kid). 

Besides the walls, the ceiling, the bed and the windows, there was a desk sitting in one corner. She then walked over to check out the desk. It was made of dark brown wood, and, much to Buffy’s delight, was smooth to the touch. That was a good thing in itself, since Buffy couldn’t stand slivers or splinters of wood. 

On the desk was a Toshiba Windows 8 laptop (which was turned off at the moment, although it was plugged into a power strip, which was in turn plugged into the wall outlet).

“You like it?” she heard Kaiba’s voice say. 

Buffy turned around and smiled at Kaiba. “Like it? I love it, Seto. This is the kind of place I’ve always wanted to live in.” She walked over to the bed and sat on it. 

Clearing her throat, Buffy paused briefly before Kaiba sat down next to her. “Seto, I have a confession to make — something I’ve not told anybody else,” she told him. 

Kaiba gave her a smile of encouragement. “It’s all right, Buffy. You can tell me, as well as Yami and Joey too. And you don’t have to worry about your secret getting out; we’re very good at keeping secrets.”

“That’s great, Seto,” Buffy smiled, “but I think I’ll tell you guys tomorrow, since I am feeling a bit tired.” 

Kaiba did not argue with her there. “Good idea, Buffy.”

With that, as soon as Kaiba gave her a kiss goodnight and left the room, Buffy changed into the nightgown. Picking up her toothbrush, she headed to the bathroom, which was one door away, and then brushed her teeth.

When that was done, she then returned to the bedroom, put her toothbrush on the nightstand and then turned off the light.

When Yami, Joey and Kaiba checked in on her a little bit later, they smiled upon seeing her fast asleep in the bed.

Deep down, they knew that with a little bit of luck and some help from them, Buffy would be able to leave that life known as prostitution and enter a whole new life with them...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s the end of this chapter. I hope you liked reading it as much as I did writing it. And I hope you’ll be able to give me some ideas for the next chapter as well; after all, new ideas are a good thing for a writer to have.
> 
> Anyway, nice feedback is very much appreciated, of course. :)


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